Biomedical subjects

Y Trope

Publications and source records attributed to Y Trope.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Facing faces: studies on the cognitive aspects of physiognomy.

Physiognomy, the art of reading personality traits from faces, dates back to ancient Greece, and is still very popular. The present studies examine several aspects and consequences of the process of reading traits from faces. Using faces with neutral expressions, it is demonstrated that personality information conveyed in faces changes the interpretation of verbal information. Moreover, it is shown that physiognomic information has a consistent effect on decisions, and creates overconfidence in judgments. It is argued, however, that the process of "reading from faces" is just one side of the coin, the other side of which is "reading into faces." Consistent with the latter, information about personality changes the perception of facial features and, accordingly, the perceived similarity between faces. The implications of both processes and questions regarding their automaticity are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Processing alternative explanations of behavior: correction or integration?

Three experiments investigated how activation of knowledge about situational forces affects discounting in dispositional inference tasks. Each experiment varied a different knowledge activation factor--salience, accessibility, or specificity of situational information. In addition, all 3 experiments varied situational demands and cognitive load. The results showed that cognitive load eliminated discounting when situational information was low in salience, accessibility, or specificity. However, when situational information was more salient, accessible, or specific, it produced strong discounting effects even when perceivers were under cognitive load. These results are discussed in terms of correction and integration models of dispositional inferences from behavior.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Temporal construal and time-dependent changes in preference.

Five studies tested the predictions of temporal construal theory and time-discounting theories regarding evaluation of near future and distant future options (outcomes, activities, products). The options had abstract or goal-relevant features (called high-level construal features) as well as more concrete or goal-irrelevant features (called low-level construal features). The studies varied the valence (positive vs. negative) and the type of valence (affective vs. cognitive) of the low-level and high-level construal features. The results show that the weight of high-level construal features, compared with the weight of low-level construal features, is greater in determining distant future preferences than near future preferences. The implications of the results for extant theories of time-dependent changes in preference are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Counteractive self-control in overcoming temptation.

How do anticipated short-term costs affect the likelihood of engaging in an activity that has long-term benefits. Five studies investigated the factors that determine (a) how anticipated short-term costs elicit self-control efforts and (b) how self-control efforts eventually diminish the influence of short-term costs on behavior. The studies manipulated short-term costs (e.g., painful medical procedures) and assessed a variety of self-control strategies (e.g., self-imposed penalties for failure to undergo a test). The results show that short-term costs elicit self-control strategies for self rather than others, before rather than after behavior. when long-term benefits are important rather than unimportant and when the costs are moderate rather than extremely small or large. The results also show that the self-control efforts help people act according to their long-term interests.

Blood Glucose↗

PubMed1997

Looking for truth in all the wrong places? Asymmetric search of individuating information about stereotyped group members.

Two experiments examined how category-based expectancies (CBEs) influence individuating information sought when trying to make accurate judgments about the attitudes of targets who were members of social categories that strongly or weakly implied the judged attitude. CBEs produced marked asymmetries in the number and content of participants' questions. Specifically, participants addressed fewer questions to stereotyped targets (STs) than to nonstereotyped targets (NSTs), thus acquiring relatively little individuating information about STs prior to judgement. Questions asked STs were diagnostically asymmetric-a response could better confirm than disconfirm the expected attitude, but questions to NSTs were diagnostically symmetric-a response could equally confirm or disconfirm the attitude. The authors discuss asymmetric search as a mechanism that may protect CBEs against disconfirmation independent of biased processing of acquired information.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

When combining intrinsic motivations undermines interest: a test of activity engagement theory.

Three studies with elementary school children demonstrated that combining reading with coloring pictures can undermine children's later interest in reading, while also reducing their interest in coloring. Undermining is maximized when an activity is identified as secondary during the initial engagement, but other conditions must also be met as specified by activity engagement theory (Higgins & Trope, 1990): (a) the multiple input activities must be separately identified and considered simultaneously as alternatives, (b) the activity identified as primary during initial engagement must not be perceived as very attractive, and (c) the responses connected to an identified activity during the initial engagement must be activated subsequently. Conditions for enhancing interest in an activity are also considered.

Child↗

PubMed1994

Reconciling competing motives in self-evaluation: the role of self-control in feedback seeking.

On the basis of the assumption that positive experiences enhance perceived ability to cope with the discomfort associated with negative performance feedback (NF), it was hypothesized that (a) positive experiences increase willingness to accept negative but useful feedback and that (b) individuals seek positive experiences before accepting NF. Experiment 1 found that past success increased Ss' interest in unrelated NF. Experiment 2 found that positive mood increased Ss' interest in NF. Experiment 3 investigated the amount of time Ss spent reading about their past success while waiting for new feedback. When the new feedback was mandatory, the time Ss spent reading about their past success increased with the anticipated negativity of the new feedback. However, when the new feedback was optional, the time Ss spent reading about their past success was an inverted-U function of the anticipated negativity of the new feedback. Results are discussed in terms of self-control processes.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1991

Behavior identification as a mediator of dispositional inference.

According to Trope's (1986) 2-stage model, the use of situational information ("A was teased") to identify behavior ("A reacted aggressively") may result in subsequent dispositional inferences ("A is an aggressive person") that seem insensitive to situational information. Two determinants of the situational biasing effect on behavior identification were varied, namely, behavior ambiguity and order of situational and behavioral information. It was found that when behavior was ambiguous and preceded by situational information, the latter affected behavior identification but not dispositional inference; in contrast, when behavior was unambiguous or when it was followed by situational information, the latter affected dispositional inference but not behavior identification. Thus, the same conditions that allowed situational information to bias behavior identification also nullified the effect of situational information on dispositional inference.

Adult↗